EU’s Syrian refugees shouldn’t be forced to return home – Asia Times

The experiences we had with Syrian migrant families in New Zealand were nothing short of devastating. These were not philosophical studies from distant but deeply personal accounts of torture, prison, and illegal killings—testimonies that laid bare the unbelievable suffering inflicted by Bashar al-Assad’s program.

Any lingering misperceptions about the government’s ability for cruelty within the supposed standards of the liberal world purchase were dissipated by the repression’s large savagery. The idea of Syria’s release from such oppression felt less like a chance and more like an unattainable desire at those times.

However, after nearly 14 years, that moment arrived when Hayat Tahrir al-Sham ( HTS), led by Abu Mohammad al-Golani, seized control of major Syrian cities, including Damascus. Refugees worldwide, including in Europe, celebrated this rotating stage, taking to the streets with their flags of unity and full of hope for their country.

For the thousands of Palestinian refugees in EU countries, this moment of triumph brings confusion. While some may experience a sense of happiness, they also face a pressing fresh query: What comes next for them as immigrants?

However, EU nations have responded by halting new hospital programs, signaling a change that has raised worries among some Syrians. Some people may want to rush and see how HTS operates before making a decision to return to their country.

Legislators in the Union are now in a significant predicament. If they encourage Palestinian refugees to bring their own families back home with aid packages, or if they permit volunteer resettlement on an individual basis?

For migrants in Turkey and Lebanon, where they face conflicts and limited options, the decision to return may be more clear. Yet, for those in EU countries, the condition is more difficult.

Immigrants in the EU have access to social services and processes to membership. Some have visited Europe for almost ten years and have benefited from welcoming people and welcoming policies. The decision between staying in the EU and returning to Syria is challenging and deeply personal for these migrants.

The EU’s determination to end asylum applications appears to indicate that Western governments are getting ready for a lot of mass repatriation. In a post-conflict earth, their recovery and the profit of its residents might be seen as priorities from their viewpoint.

The end of Assad’s government is truly good news, and temporary safety procedures for Syrians in Europe may now be viewed as successful.

Yet, the safety of returning migrants remains a major concern. Units, while now in power, has past links to groupings like Al-Qaeda and ISIS. It’s unclear whether HTS will support minority-friendly government or build a one based on political principles.

For organizations such as the Yazidis, Christians, Shias and Kurdish Syrians, the position remains precarious. While Assad’s demise offers hope for a more egalitarian and political coming, this perspective may be balanced against fresh conflicts and power challenges.

Subsequent clashes between Kurdish and Turkish-backed forces have heightened worries of more unrest and violence, particularly in areas that have already been devastated by war.

In a quickly evolving political environment with much guarantee of safety or justice, these minority areas, which have long been marginalized and caught in the crossfire of opposing factions, are now at risk of dislocation and harassment. Hopes and aspirations for a freed Syria are tempered by the terrible reality of a scattered and dangerous state.

In response to various conflicts, such as the Afghan problems, where many refugees were forced to return, the EU has recently halted refugee applications. But as we know, Afghanistan remains illegal, specifically for minority and ladies, who continue to face serious restrictions on education and employment. This law raises questions about whether Syria is really prepared to welcome its citizens back safely.

Another complication is that the European Union is now deeply burdened with the task of assisting thousands of Ukrainian refugees who are fleeing Russia’s continuing anger. This has put a lot of strain on Western institutions, straining resources, and putting the limits of public and political compassion for large-scale movement to the test.

The possible relocation of Syrian refugees could lessen this strain by lowering the social and economic strains posed by hosting displaced communities.

The main problem is to decide whether Syria, especially the sections governed by Units, will uphold the rights, surveillance and livelihoods of returning Syrians, particularly those from minority communities.

Considerable doubts exist about the organization’s ability to promote a truly diverse and democratic society due to its historical ties to fundamentalist ideologies and its current hold on parts of northwest Syria.

Discussions between EU foreign secretaries and the Jolani group in charge of HTS are continuing, indicating an effort to find common ground or build frameworks for assistance.

These discussions are fragile because they must strike a balance between political concerns, political concerns, and the wider implications of speaking with a group that is still viewed with suspicion by many in the worldwide community.

Despite these attempts, the prospect remains ambiguous, as the way Units may consider in shaping its management, enforcing the rule of law, and ensuring the safety of returnees is yet to be seen. The idea of extensive repatriation is currently both a social gamble and a humanitarian necessity.

The Union must reconsider its method of relocation if Units adopts a restrictive position equivalent to that of the Taliban. Until HTS allows democracy to grow and ensures the safety of all citizens, irrespective of their religion, nationality, or history, Syrian refugees should not be pressured to profit.

Ultimately, the EU must uphold its commitment to voluntary repatriation. Syrian refugees deserve the freedom to choose this potentially fatal course of action at their own pace. EU leaders should be aware that refugees are subject to forced displacement and that repatriation is a gradual process.

Syrian refugees should be given temporary protection and should work with other countries to ensure their safe return when necessary. The EU must continue to support those rights as an institution that was founded on human rights.

A crucial conundrum is at the center of this situation: while the EU can encourage repatriation and lay the groundwork through diplomacy, returning must always be voluntary, especially for those Syrian refugees who are currently residing in EU member states.

Dr Sheraz Akhtar lectures at Thailand’s Chiang Mai University. His research examines the social, economic, and educational development of refugee communities in host nations.

Canadian author and editor Patrick Keeney. His areas of interest are at the intersection of philosophy, politics, and the study of ideas. &nbsp,

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Saif Ali Khan: Man detained over knife attack on Bollywood actor

Police in the Indian city of Mumbai have detained a man in connection with the knife attack on Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan, according to media reports

Khan was stabbed on Thursday night during a dispute at his home with an unexplained person. The artist is recovering after operation.

Initial studies suggest the harm may have been intended as a fraud after authorities seized CCTV footage from the writer’s mansion in Bandra, an upmarket district.

Is it still unclear whether the imprisoned person committed the crime.

A caregiver who works with Khan’s home to the police gave some information about the events that occurred that day, according to a statement released to the BBC.

The mother of the son of Khan claimed that when she was with the maid in the child’s room late at night, she first noticed the darkness of a man next to the bathroom door.

Ms. Philip reported that a man appeared, holding a long knife in one side and a sturdy thing in another, and warned the two against making any noise. He demanded 10m rupees ($ 115, 477, £94, 511 ), she said.

A fight immediately broke out, during which Ms Philip was injured. However, the maid fled the place.

According to the patient’s speech, Khan and his wife, artist Kareena Kapoor, rushed to the area after hearing the noise. She claimed that when Khan confronted him, the perpetrator used a knife to hit him before fleeing the house.

In the invasion, Khan sustained a number of injuries, including one to the neck.

Dr Nitin Dange of Lilavati Hospital, where Khan is being treated, said that when the artist arrived, he was bleeding from his neck with a knife part embedded. The piece was medically removed, and liquid leak was controlled. According to physicians, prompt medical care saved lives from severe spinal harm.

Dr. Dange claimed on Friday that Khan is “better then.”

” We made him wander, and he walked also. Looking at his guidelines, his wounds and all the other accidents, he is healthy to get shifted out of the ICU. He has to get some steps. He needs to get some sleep, and his action has been hampered for a week, he said.

The incident’s tool has not been discovered, according to deputy director of Mumbai officers Dixit Gadam, and they have filed a complaint based on the nurse’s account.

” The accused used the fire escape ladder to enter”, he said. ” The research is being conducted to ascertain how the attacker gained access to the house or how the door was opened.”

Khan, 54, is also a developer, who has appeared in many films and TV shows over the years. He is renowned for his quick wit and funny scheduling.

In Omkara, which he starred in in 2006 and received a lot of praise, his representation of the enemy was well-known. He has won several awards, including the Padma Shri, India’s fourth-highest human dignity, in 2010.

Sharmila Tagore and Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, both actors, are Khan’s sons.

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There will be a durian vending machine at Tampines MRT station from late January

Kaki Kaki now has durian vending machines at&nbsp, Parc Oasis Club House and&nbsp, 11 Sembawang Crescent. According to the organization, the fruits are replenished “regularly to ensure beauty, depending on requirement and availability”.

Durians that aren’t used may be repurposed into citrus puree, which is then distributed to bakeries and stores to reduce waste.

The Kaki Kaki company’s spokesperson stated that the company is developing plans to introduce more andnbsp vending machines and look into “opportunities to work with partners, including stores and retail spaces, to create our vending machines also more obtainable.”

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Rescue efforts ongoing for 14 reportedly missing after Jakarta shopping mall fire leaves 6 dead

As the death toll rises to six, according to local media on Friday ( Jan 17 ), rescue operations are still being conducted for victims of a massive fire at a Jakarta shopping mall.

The blaze broke out at one of the city’s oldest shops, Glodok Plaza in Taman Sari, West Jakarta, at about 9.22pm on Wednesday.

According to local media outlet Kompas, the head of the Jakarta Regional Disaster Management Agency, Isnawa Adji, said on Friday,” Six bodies have been brought to the Police Hospital ( in East Jakarta ) to be identified.”

14 individuals are also missing, according to data released by the disaster management firm on Friday, though it’s not known whether the six who were found dead were members of the 14, according to the fire and rescue organization. &nbsp,

Earlier, eight persons, seven people and one man, were reported missing by their family members.

According to local media website Detik, the hearth was merely extinguished on Thursday night, but cooling efforts were still in progress as of Friday. &nbsp,

The fireplace agency managed to use mechanical ladders to save nine people on Wednesday evening when the fire broke out.

” Nine survived the fire, thank heaven they are all in good condition although they were in surprise and had difficulty breathing after being rescued”, a senior official from West Jakarta’s fire office, Syariduddin, told the media on Thursday, as quoted by the Jakarta Post.

More than 47 fire vehicles and 200 officers were dispatched to the site by the state’s fire and rescue organization, according to the Jakarta Post.

Satriadi Gunawan, the head of the Jakarta Fire and Rescue Agency, claimed that the extensive damaged area and the burned-out of digital products delayed the firefighting efforts. &nbsp,

Glodok Plaza is known to be Jakarta’s leading gateway for selling devices.

” The melted area was large, three decks were engulfed in flames, stage seven, eight and nine … then, most of the businesses in the store sell digital goods which were burnt”, Satriati explained on Thursday, as quoted by Detik.

The fire started in a bar on the sixth ground of Glodok Plaza, according to Satriadi from the fire firm, and quickly spread through the top floors, trapping those in the nightclub. &nbsp,

Studies are still continuous. &nbsp,

Violent video of a number of people waving for assistance using mobile lamps have appeared on TikTok.

Prior to this, Satriadi stated that four systems were first discovered on the seventh surface of the store, highlighting the difficulty in identifying the patients due to severe fires.Continue Reading

Plagued by eerie broadcasts, South Korean border residents hope Trump’s return will ease tensions with the North

GANGHWA COUNTY, South Korea: For South Koreans living close to the North, career has been terrible for decades.

Since July of last year, loudspeakers on the other side of the Korean Peninsula have been playing eerie or quiet crackly sounds, such as metal grinding and a gong being beaten. Other sound include screaming, puppies howling and noises.

These border-adjacent settlements like Dangsan-ri in Ganghwa County, which are located about 1.7 kilometers away from the monk kingdom, have been the subject of these North Korean channels.

People have complained to the South Korean authorities and various government representatives for assistance, claiming the sounds are sounded like they come right out of a horror film. But the problem has not been resolved.

They are hopeful that the approaching US president can assist them presently that Donald Trump is returning to the White House in a few days.

Under the present US President Joe Biden’s leadership, relations between America and North Korea have stagnated, which has increased tensions on the Vietnamese Peninsula.

The two Koreas are still technically at war after their 1950 to 1953 conflict ended in an armistice, not a peace agreement.

“PLEASE SAVE US”

The North’s broadcast, which play K-pop songs and propagandize anti-North Asian propaganda, are thought to be a retaliation for the South’s continuation of loudspeaker broadcasts in July.

This was done in response to Pyongyang’s decision to fly thousands of trash-filled bubbles across the border. &nbsp, The two Koreas had been engaged in a&nbsp, tit-for-tat bubble strategy.

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Musk as Trump’s unchained foreign policy disruptor-in-chief – Asia Times

Donald Trump’s first name gave the world a style of deliberately divisive and unwanted participation in other countries ‘ domestic affairs, with examples ranging from Britain’s throes of Brexit to North Korea, where the 45th US senator attempted to build a personal cope with Kim Jung Un.

US tech businessman Elon Musk, but, has taken this to a whole new level. Musso is reportedly ready to interfere in other countries ‘ matters by using his private sway to control certain decision-makers, institutions, and corporations, or by attacking them on social media to reshape them in the way he wants them to remain.

In contrast, Trump is more pragmatic and could do a deal with any nation provided they fall in line with his” America first” mission, and give him what he demands.

In the past six months, many countries have been subjected to Musk’s “personal foreign policy” initiatives. Until fairly recently, there were two schools of thought on his interest in global politics.

Initially, Musk was merely” a mischievous antagonist” who simply loved to shock and appeared largely driven by social media.

But that has given way to nervousness in the face of Musk’s increasingly&nbsp, deliberate attempts&nbsp, at destabilizing governments, including his persistent stoking of&nbsp, populist support&nbsp, for far-right parties and potentially funding&nbsp, populist allies.

In his final address to the country before he leaves, current president Joe Biden warns of the growing power of the ultra-wealthy.

Musk wields enormous global influence not merely because of his wealth, connections, and fleet of companies. But arguably because he is a self-proclaimed populist, with increasingly far-right political preferences. As of January 20, he will also be a significant member of the Trump administration.

His political toolbox includes supporting or ( more usually ) strafing individual politicians ( for instance, UK prime minister Keir Starmer, or German chancellor Olaf Scholz ). Additionally, he backs populist political parties like Reform UK and AfD in Germany. He criticizes judges and broadcasting companies in places where he doesn’t reside, as well as government officials in other nations.

Musk’s political activity appears to be primarily intended to appeal to populist groups, ideologies, and causes, as well as actively supporting centrist parties in other nations. Musk’s political intrusion, however, has expanded of late, with an apparent eye on election results.

Examples include nations where elections are still in the making ( Canada by criticizing prime minister Justin Trudeau ) or much sooner ( Germany ), giving him the opportunity to criticize the incumbents while supporting his or her preferred opposition party.

Musk’s attention is extensive, from attacks on Starmer, to support for Italy’s Georgia Meloni and Argentina’s Javier Milei.

YouTube video

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Who will oppose Musk in the end?

Whose foreign policy?

The concern for those working in foreign policy is that Musk may be hired in the name of the US government to continue his interference and destabilization. He has proven to be effective as Trump’s choice as his disruptor of choice.

The difficulty will then be determining the precise beginning and end of Musk’s individual foreign policy.

Musk positions himself as the global defender of free speech, in order to soften the ground for Trump’s preferred combination of far-right populism and protectionist, tariff-driven trade approaches.

Musk’s method of operation is to persuade leaders and national communities to “rally against rules,” giving far-right parties and industry leaders who have seen an opportunity to deregulate key sectors a chance to gain.

Mark Zuckerberg, the social media giant’s CEO, recently announced a significant change to its content moderation policy in the US. The European Parliament’s far-right grouping Patriots for Europe supported Musk’s call for greater media freedom.

Both of these conveniently coincided with Musk’s calling of EU regulation and its “institutionalized censorship,” opening the door for Trump to start any number of conflict.

The common sense buffer zones, such as former UK deputy prime minister Nick Clegg’s ( currently ) head of policy for Meta, have been eliminated. Zuckerberg’s thinking now echoes that of companies, regulators and politicians who agree with Trump.

As a solo global disruptor and Trump’s preferred frontman, Musk represents both indirect and direct state interference. Sitting at Trump’s right hand and – as of January 20– heading the new US Department of Government Efficiency ( Doge ) – means it is unclear who is acting, and in whose interests and crucially, who benefits.

Are nations more likely to advise Musk and Trump to step down because they are aware of the possibility of a torrent of ire with very real consequences in terms of trade disputes? This is certainly the approach of many, including Marietje Schaake, former European parliamentarian, arguing that:” Musk must be seen as representing the US president when he bets against the leadership of key European nations, allies until now”.

Or are nations just as likely to ignore Musk, putting a bet on the widespread performative bullying inherited from Trump can be largely ignored?

Responding to interference

Only a few have the power to influence global politics, and the EU is one such example. Many may push back. The European Commission made it clear that it was closely watching Elon Musk, the party’s leader, Alice Weidel, as they recently watched X live in Germany.

This was done to determine whether X itself gives the AfD an unfair advantage in the public, largely as a result of the manipulation of algorithms designed to suppress opposing non-AfD voices ahead of February’s German election.

The European Commission – in its role as enforcer of Europe’s Digital Services Act ( DSA ) – could impose high fines, or blocks. However, to do so requires strong political will and unmistakable proof that X is putting more pressure on the public by promoting hate speech.

What effects will Musk’s rollercoaster ride have on world affairs? Deregulation is likely to be the norm today. Maga has long pushed for a” small state/big companies” approach and this is likely to continue under Musk’s leadership of Doge.

For those who don’t understand Musk’s role, there might be issues in the future. Potential candidates for secretary of state Marco Rubio and US foreign policy officials in Washington ( and their counterparts all over the world ) could be involved, all of whom may be confused by the nature of the agenda being pursued.

However, any new government would be a poor start with a slew of irate international allies. Violating the “norms of responsible conduct”– however flippantly Musk regards them – will not ultimately assist in Trump himself being effective, but rather just more disruptive.

Amelia Hadfield is head of department of politics, University of Surrey

This article was republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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From export dominance to supply chain control: China’s Globalization 2.0 – Asia Times

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From trade dominance to provide chain power: China’s Globalization 2.0

David Goldman makes a point about China’s shifting business plan, known as” Globalization 2.0,” which focuses on establishing supply stores throughout the Global South. In consequence, China’s direct part in US imports has increased, with Chinese goods passing through next countries.

Germany’s lock vote: AfD benefits, CDU/CSU weakens and financial uncertainty persists

Germany’s preparations for the February 23 lock national elections are highlighted by Diego Faßnacht. Amid business collapse, higher energy costs, and economic slowdown, elections show rising separation, with the far-right AfD and smaller events gaining ground.

As China and India adjust, the effects of oil sanctions may be temporary.

James Davis information the Biden administration’s extraordinary eleventh-hour sanctions on Russia’s dark fuel tanker fleet. Although significant buyers are observing the sanctions, both countries are considering subtle strategies to support Russian oil imports.

Japan’s Ishiba: Political success and private problems

Scott Foster discusses Shigeru Ishiba, the prime minister of Japan ,’s new political accomplishments in Malaysia and Indonesia, where he bolstered economic and security relationships. Domestically, while, Japan grapples with higher prices, rising real estate prices, and the dollar’s loss.

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Mediacorp music festival CLOUD 9 to feature acts like BI, Ivy Lee, Shazza, Dolla and more

Excellent news for music fans&nbsp, Mediacorp may be staging music festival Sky 9 on Feb 15 from 5pm at Arena@Expo Hall 7. &nbsp,

Sky 9 will feature performances by thrilling local and international artists, including original North Korean child band iKon’s musician BI, who will take center stage, according to Mediacorp.

Mandopop musician Ivy Lee, dance-pop child party Dolla, domestic singer-songwriter Shazza, native singer Alyph and DJ Kiara will also be performing. &nbsp,

Extra functions will be increasingly revealed, Mediacorp said. &nbsp,

Fans can even look forward to seeing their favourite Mediacorp characters host the event: Azura Goh, Ezam Ernady, Joakim Gomez, Joey Tay, Sonia Chew and Zhu Zeliang. &nbsp,

A variety of fringe activities, including lively photo spots and interactive booths, will be present at the event to help festivalgoers soak up the atmosphere.

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